Mad Men

[Julia99]

Uhhh what was that about?  I think Matt Weiner maybe had sisters who were fans and it annoys him still?

[Gothick]

What happened?  I'm years behind in my viewing of that series... gawd only knows when I'll get around to seeing it.

Was there an actual DS reference?  Somebody mentioned that a clip would be glimpsed (a la Running with Scissors)?

Thanks.

G.

[ProfStokes]

Gothick, two characters were preparing for an audition by reading a script for "Dark Shadows" (though the name was never explicitly mentioned). I heard Burke Devlin's name mentioned, and Megan's friend described the role for which she was auditioning as a housekeeper in love.  Was she supposed to be Mrs. Johnson?!

None of the dialogue sounded like anything that was actually featured on the show (though that doesn't mean a different scene could have been drafted for an audition script).  I had been looking forward to this cameo, but as seems to be happening so often lately, the reference to DS emphasized how bad it was.  Megan referred to it as "crap" at least twice and complained, "Isn't this show supposed to be scary?"   I suspect this reference was a tie-in to the release of the movie (which has been advertising heavily on "Mad Men."  I wish the original series could get more respect.

ProfStokes

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Sadly and almost inevitably that's the way DS is treated whenever it comes up on some show. One of the rare exceptions was when it came up on Gilmore Girls and was treated seriously and given respect.

[Gothick]

Thanks for the clarification, Amanda.  I've only seen season 1 of Mad Men and that kind of backhanded compliment seems typical of the humor of the show.  Another example that comes to mind is having the ad agency working for Nixon and various characters making snippy comments about JFK which is almost certainly contrary to the thoughts or opinions of the writers and producers (just taking a wild guess here).

G.

[MagnusTrask]

Even DS fans have often complained that the pre-Barnabas period wasn't as scary as it was supposed to be, so maybe it was just that period being talked about.

[Gothick]

The scene where the two women are working on the DS audition together can be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdsHTlqU4po

I believe the time is meant to be November of 1966 (hence the reference to Thanksgiving).  There's something of an air of Jackie Susann/Valley of the Dolls about the sequence...

G.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Thanks for posting the link to the video, Gothick.    And yes, it does have sort of a VotD vibe to it. Though I can't say that I'm unhappy the character depicted in their fake script never actually showed up on DS.